The question everyone wants to know is what are Adwords consultant fees? Adwords consultant fees vary wildly. The most popular way for an Adwords consultant, as opposed to an Adwords agent, to charge for consultation is a fixed hourly rate. This type of Adwords consultant is very simple and straightforward. It is decided how many hours of Adwords consulting you need, and then you either pay up front in a block, as you go, or with a down payment and as approved. The Adwords consultant hourly rate varies, and can range from as low as $75 an hour, and cases as high as $300 an hour, depending on the reputation or background of the provider.
It is important to note that Adwords consulting provided by an individual person or by an agency are somewhat different. A consultant typically provides a bit more personalized experience, but will not have access to the assets of a developer, a designer, or the collective experience that an agency has. This also doesn’t necessarily make them cheaper. The difference is comparable to a medical doctor with a private practice versus a medical group. A small office with a staff that remembers your name can be more expensive than a medical group that has more appointment slots and a variety of doctors to meet specific needs.
Another downside to an individual versus an agency is that an Adwords consultant will generally be hyper specialized in just Adwords. They may or may not offer other PPC services such as Microsoft Bing, LinkedIn ads, or other marketing tools such as email marketing or SEO. An agency is almost guaranteed to offer or refer these other services. It’s important to consider the whole perspective of your Adwords account. Adwords is just one piece of the overall marketing puzzle to consider.
Essentially, an agency’s Adwords consulting rate will encompass pieces of time for the whole team, with a campaign strategist who will be doing most of the work, where as an individual consultant will do all of the work themselves, sometimes with an assistant. They will typically be hired for an individual Adwords consultant rate.
Typically Adwords consultant rates are based on a project’s scope. The consultant will work with you to establish what needs to be done, whether you need ongoing maintenance or not, and then if you are looking for the total Adwords consultant fee, this will be based on the entire project with an hourly rate. You will typically be quoted a total number of hours to achieve the objective, then how the hours will be applied. This will allow you to get a better handle on what the expense is. Please note that Adwords consultant fees are separate from what you will actually spend in Google Adwords. This is an important distinction that some new users of Adwords don’t comprehend. After billing, you will receive one bill from Google for whatever your budget is for that time period, and also a bill from your Adwords consultant for your consulting fee. This is different from some types of agency billing where it is not transparent, and you do not actually see your Adwords spend versus your management fees.
It may surprise you to see such high Adwords consultant rates of $100-$200 an hour to provide Adwords services, however the time and experience needed to develop effective skills in Adwords is not unlike the time needed by an attorney or business consultant to achieve expert status in their field. You get what you pay for. If you’re paying a rate of $50 an hour for Adwords consulting, you need to take a hard look at who’s providing the service. They may either be outsourcing the service to another country. If you were to hire an Adwords consultant in Bangladesh or Poland, your Adwords consultant rate is going to be much cheaper. However, extreme caution must be advised when taking advantage of lower Adwords consultant fees in other countries. Mainly because non-native English speakers find extreme trouble writing effective Adwords ads and understanding keyword selection. In many cases, larger brands or companies can find themselves in a nightmare overseeing such a consulting firm, especially with large accounts.
If Adwords consultant rates still trouble you, consider this. Many high CPC industries such as reverse mortgage or personal injury law, cost per click can range up to $400. If you’re spending $400 for one click, does it not make sense to hire an Adwords consultant with an hourly rate at $100? When the stakes are high and the budgets are large, an Adwords consultant is a very powerful weapon in achieving your goals, and the performance gains in your account are well worth the Adwords consultant rate.
